Reef Palms

We've been coming to Reef Palms for many years. I was concerned by recent reviews.|I asked and found out the hotel is now under new management. |Our room was perfect. Spotlessly clean. |I had booked online. I did make an error with my online booking dates and these were changed without problem via email.|I found I was arriving a night earlier, so I called to have my booking extended one day earlier a couple of weeks before arriving.|I did arrive late on this this earlier day and upon check in was told there was no booking. |As I was driving I couldn't check my phone for late check in information. |I was offered a room, but at the top rate, $50 more that was offered for that night online. I declined and stayed elsewhere. |There is coffee and tea making facilities offered, but no milk supplied.

I had an unhappy experience at this motel. The room was dirty and absolutely not worth the overpriced rate. From the moment I arrived, the reception staff were rude and unprofessional. When I tried to address my concerns, they cut me off mid-sentence and started talking on the phone, completely ignoring me.||The bedding in the room was filthy, and when I complained about it, I was shocked by their response. They casually told me, “Don’t use that bed; guests only use it to put their luggage.” That’s completely unacceptable. Why would there be a dirty, unusable bed in the room I paid for? I got told we paid for a smaller room so dirty or not he was doing me a favour! ||To make matters worse, instead of taking accountability, they dishonestly tried to blame me for the situation. It was clear they had no interest in resolving the issue or providing even basic customer service. When trying to discuss my issue I had to tell the owner to “please stop interrupting me” as I was being shouted over ||Furthermore, I happily went down to reception and kindly asked for a new pot as the one I had was rotted and I got told it wasn’t rot and it was simply used and that it was a motel not a hotel deal with it - eventually got a new pot but with no ease ||Advised to avoid this motel, the lack of cleanliness, poor service, and dismissive attitude from the staff made it one of the |most disappointing stays I’ve ever had.

Unfortunately, we found two bed bugs in the bed. We appreciated being shown into another room upon complaining, although it wasn't the friendliest interaction - no apologies or compensation offered whatsoever. The new room also wasn't the cleanest - the carpet floor seemed moist, a dirty ceiling fan, the water tap was leaking and the mosquito net to the terrace was worn down. Personally, I wouldn't stay here again.

We thought that we were lost, because as we approached the hotel we were in as on the outskirts of town and seemed to be a lower income area. But that IS where the hotel is, far from the nice area of Cairns hotels, restaurants and activities. Based on the types of individuals we saw on the street, we decided that I would remain in the car to prevent theft while my friend checked in. He is unable to articulate why, but he says there were people hanging out in the check in area that made him feel uncomfortable and that they looked like they just moved up a notch from being homeless. We looked around the room and were dismayed. There was tape holding a sofa cushion together, the lock on the sliding glass door did not work, and there was an exposed rusty panel that said something about "Danger, Electrocution" in the bathroom. I was unable to read all the tiny words, but because this was in the bathroom, I was frightened for our safety. And since we were going to be out of the room for long periods on tours, we did not want to leave our possessions unlocked. We called the desk and asked for a different room and explained why. They said they had none. I have a video trying over and over to get the door locked and she couldn't. This format will not let me add a video, only pictures. The manager then came to our room and said that because our room was not on the first floor, we shouldn't worry about the door remaining unlocked. I guess that means that if you are on the ground floor, you need to worry! He refused to provide a refund. It was not worth it for us to take theft risks in this neighborhood, so we left and had a very, lovely stay at the Cairnes, Novotel-safe, well appointed and walkable to the nice part of the city.

When arriving at the room it was very dirty, cockroaches and just dirt on the surfaces. There is a poster that you get a fine if the fire alarm goes off while cooking, while there is no stove top! And to make matters worse, there was not even a fire alarm in the room, very dangerous!||We are now almost 3 months further and have still not received out $150 bond back! We had contact with the property and booking.com and they said that they would give us the bond back. We are now 3 months further and after a thousand emails we still have not received it back! Absolute scammers, please be advised before booking we don’t wish this upon other happy travellers.

It is a good place to stay with your family. Close to the Cairns city. Very near to the airport. Staff are really friendly. We enjoyed the time .

Beware. Our room was broken into from the balcony during our stay on March 7th, 2024 while we were sleeping. They took one of our bags full of diving gears. The motel didn't seem to be too concerned. Queensland Police was notified and I provided the police report number to Reef Palms but they couldn't provide any security cam videos.

We book two rooms I had called a few days prior asking if a two bed room was available he said no and that another room would have to be booked then on arrival we got booked into a room that had two beds in it the manager was pretty rude and stagnant it took about 30 minutes to actually check in as about 2 minutes into him asking what room we were in he turn around mid checking us in and started talking to the cleaners who had come in about there next shift without excusing himself. He handed us the paper work and ask which one we were which was a total breach of privacy to the other people staying there then had to ask again cause he couldn’t remember which one he had crossed out. We didn’t get shown where our rooms were he just rudely pointed and said room there and there, parking wasn’t explain nothing was explained. One room you couldn’t open the door properly and there was pubes in the shower and hair in the sink the walls were dirty, in the other room there was hair throughout the bathroom and grit on the bed side tables and mould on the ceiling. It states that you have to wash up dishes and that everything was supplied or you would receive a $200 cleaning bill. There was no cleaning equipment and when I went to tell the manager he asked if I would take it back up as I was checking out( I am heavily pregnant) there was only a thin blanket to use and no spares in the room. Very disappointed and will definitely not be going back or recommend this place at all to anyone. The curtains also wouldn’t close properly so the sun came right in first thing in the morning. One room the aircon didn’t work properly. Walking down the hallways the doors to the rooms were open for anyone to walk into.

First thing I have to mention is the service. Cairns is definitely a tourist town, and the owners know so much about the different tour companies. My mother and I were going to do a dive tour with one of the more prominently advertised companies, but after talking to Sharon about my mom's swimming limitations, we decided on a smaller tour. We couldn't have been more pleased! We had a great day with a very intimate crew, who helped my mom out, and saved money! As an American, I was weary about the "motel" label, but this place is more like a condo with a kitchen. They have everything you need. Don't expect a 4 or 5 star hotel, but when you're in Cairns, you're not spending a lot of time in your hotel room anyway. I would stay there again. TIP: Bring cash, because they charge a 2 or 3% service fee of the total if you pay with credit card.

This place is super cute. The owners run the place and were there to greet us. We got there pretty early but we were still able to check in. The rooms are like little studio apartments with little kitchens with everything you need in them, plus a living room type space in addition to the bed. There are several food places within walking distance and a small grocery store. We were very pleased with our stay.